Upon his death, the city of Lead mourned the passing of one of its most esteemed citizens. He, along with his wife, were known to be some of the most charitable residents of the town. Yet today, they have largely been regulated to the past, a brief memory only traces of which have been left. With some digging though, we can uncover a bit of their history, a bit of the story of Morris Jacobs and Augusta Saft.
The couple would make their move to the Black Hills in 1878, settling in Lead just two years after it was founded. Quickly Morris would set up shop, opening a saloon on Mill Street and making much needed improvements to the property. However, before coming to the Black Hills, Morris hadn’t had experience running a saloon. It was a new prospect for him, and he ran with it.
From the Pale
Morris was born in a small shtetl in present-day Poland, in 1842. It was during a time when Poland was in turmoil, having been split between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. For Morris and his family, they would live in the portion conquered by the Russian Empire, and were forced to live in the region called the Pale of Settlement.
For Jews within the Russian Empire, residency beyond the Pale was largely forbidden. When Jacob was born to Meyers Jacobs, the Pale had been gradually shrinking, further restricting the freedom of the millions of Jews within its borders. Poverty would run rampant, as most would not be able to engage in agriculture, and their means to make a living were constantly being limited.
In turn, this led to the rise of a welfare system that helped the struggling community stay afloat. This systematic charity would be a concept ingrained in Morris, and throughout his life, he would continue to exemplify this idea of charity in his everyday life.
As life in the Pale continued to worsen, the Jacobs would seek refuge elsewhere. They would find that chance around 1855 when they were able to escape to England. From there, Morris would continue his journey, arriving in New York in the early 1860s.
Prussia
Augusta Saft would also be born in a shtetl in present-day Poland; however, her journey would be much different. Nearly 10 years Morris’s senior, Augusta would be born to Selig Saft and Henrietta Jette Ziarek in 1833.
The Saft family had long lived in the town of Kepno In south-central Poland. Unlike where the Jacobs lived, Kepno, as Poland split, would come under the control of Prussia. The Jewish population in Kepno would fare much better than under Russian control, but they faced other factors that would drive many away.
While the Jewish population would have a lot more freedom, and saw Prussia as a free state where they were granted actual rights, Kepno itself would see a mass migration in the second half of the 19th century. Epidemics of such diseases as cholera were becoming more common, which in turn created poor living conditions.
Along with the majority of Jews in Kepno, Augusta would eventually leave. In 1861, she would arrive in New York.
New Beginnings
As Augusta and Morris were arriving in New York, the United States was entering one of its most tumultuous times. The country would be torn asunder in the Civil War. Having newly arrived, Morris would join the war effort by enlisting with the Union Army.
It would be around this time that Augusta and Morris would first meet, and it wouldn’t be long until they were to be wed. On January 21st, 1866, the two would be married. For a decade, the two would build a family in New York, as Morris worked as a peddler.
The peddler trade is one Morris had learned from his father, Meyers. Having lived in the Pale of Settlement, working in the merchant trades was one of the few careers Jews were allowed. These were trades, and skills, that fathers passed onto sons for many generations. Morris would be well suited for this career, and it would end up opening up great opportunities for him.
Before seizing on any of those opportunities though, Augusta and Morris would first welcome three sons into the world; Henry in 1866, Nathan in 1868, and Lewis in 1870. With their family created, the couple made the decision to head west to Cheyenne Wyoming.
Black Hills Diaspora
In 1867, the town of Cheyenne was founded. It was to serve as the mountain region headquarters of the Union Pacific Railroad. When the railroad finally reached the new city in November of that same year, it kicked off a boom to the area. The town would grow so quickly it would be given the nickname, “Magic City of the Plains.”
Part of that influx of new people were a large number of Jews, who were primarily peddlers or merchants. They would quickly discover that Wyoming was a place of equality, where they were accepted simply as fellow pioneers. For many, it was a breath of fresh air after having escaped terrible ordeals in their homelands.
In 1876, Augusta, Morris, and their family would make the trek to Cheyenne. Being a peddler, Morris would be able to set up a new life in Cheyenne quite well. But the city wouldn’t be home for the family.
The same year that Augusta and Morris arrived in Cheyenne, the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage Route would begin operating. It was a direct line to the couple’s new home in Lead.
It would take two years for the couple to board the stage in Cheyenne and head to the Black Hills. The move would take them across 350 miles of Dakota Territory, and last around 50 hours. But when they finally arrived in Lead, they knew they were home.
Shortly after arriving in Lead, Morris would establish a saloon on Mill Street, where he would be noted for the improvements he made on the property. Eventually, he’d move his business to Main Street, where he’d also set up a billiards hall, and have rooms for rent.
A Life in Lead
Augusta and Morris would quickly become part of the community in Lead. As with many Jewish settlers in the Black Hills, they would become well known for their charitable works, and for their active participation in many aspects of civic life.
However, they would not be without their problems. In 1893, Morris would go up against the City of Lead in a case that would have unusual importance. Earlier that year, the Business Men’s Club had begun selling liquor without a license. Seeing that the club did not face any repercussions, a number of other saloons began refusing to also pay their city licenses or fines imposed on them.
Eventually, this would lead to the Business Men’s Club to stop selling liquor, and most of the saloons would agree to start paying for their licenses, as well as the back pay for the two months they had refused to pay before.
While Morris would agree to restart payment for his license, he refused to pay any arrears. This would lead to Sherriff Remer to close Morris’s saloon and confiscate his stock of liquors and wine, after the City of Lead obtained judgement against him. Morris would take his case to the circuit court, but ultimately would lose.
The loss would lead Morris to operate his business as a billiard hall and temperance saloon until 1897, when he would once again receive a liquor license.
A couple years after his case with the City of Lead, in 1895, Morris would have a run in with Poker Alice, then known as Alice Cummings.
Alice had been renting a room from Morris, but had refused to pay rent. Morris would end up going into her room, and removed her bedding. This would lead to Alice assaulting Morris with a knife. After all was said and done, Alice would be discharged and Morris would pick up the costs.
Quite possibly Morris’s longest lasting mark on the community though was helping to establish the new Hebrew Cemetery Association. In 1892, a section of land in the Mount Moriah Cemetery was purchased for the internment of the area’s Jewish citizens. In 1896, Jacob Goldberg, Morris Stein, Nathan Colman, Morris Jacobs, and Wolf Fink, with a capital of $1,000,000, would officially file articles of incorporation for the Hebrew Cemetery Association.
Part of their goal was not only to help provide a place for the internment of Jewish citizens, but also to make sure that space was well taken care of. Morris would serve as treasurer for a little over a year.
The Loss
Now in his 50s, Morris had made the decision to begin to slow down a bit. He had been constantly at work, and it was time for him to focus more on his home life. In 1896, he would take a trip to England in order to visit his father. When he later returned home, it was with his dad, who had decided to take a short vacation in the Black Hills. Morris’s father, Meyers, would end up making Lead his home.
Morris would slowly remove himself from business life. In 1897, he would close his saloon and sell out to Charles Evans. He wouldn’t fully quit work, but he’d downsize.
In the end though, it would be his work that resulted in his death. On November 23rd, 1897, while returning home from a business trip to Deadwood, Morris and William Feiler would be thrown from their buggy. While William would walk away with being badly bruised, Morris would be rendered unconscious.
His diagnosis was grim, and he wasn’t expected to regain consciousness. In the early morning of Friday, November 26th, 1897, Morris would pass away.
That Sunday, November 28th, Morris would be interred in Mount Zion, as the Jewish section of Mount Moriah was known. The attendance would be large, and only grew throughout the procession as more gathered to pay their last respects.
The procession would be led by Knights of Pythias, and the No. 1 hose company, both of which Morris had been a member. It would be said that for his funeral, the rules prescribed by the Jewish religion were followed more closely than any other funeral in the Black Hills.
Morris’s father Meyers, would end up staying in Lead with Augusta. There, in the final years of his life, Augusta would take care of her father-in-law as he battled stomach cancer. Meyers would lose that fight on December 2, 1900. In the short time he would live in Lead, he would become beloved, and his passing was greatly mourned. Meyers would be laid to rest next to his son.
Two years later, after a lengthy battle herself, Augusta would pass away from heart failure on October 17th, 1902. While Morris may have been remembered for his charity, that was little compared to Augusta. She was known to never miss an opportunity to help those in need. For the near quarter of a century that she lived in Lead, she had spread love and sympathy throughout the community. Augusta would be laid to rest next to her husband.